Rainbow Springs SP (Feb 21-Mar 6)

We had an uneventful trip here and got into our site about noon. Unfortunately John made a big mistake when flushing the black water tank and forgot to open the valve. We ended up with nasty water getting all over the floor inside. Robin Williams has nothing on us. We finally got everything cleaned up and at Joan's insistence, went out to dinner. We had a great meal in the water at Swampy's.
Friday - We met a group of our friends that we kayak with in Georgia, plus others on the river and first kayaked up to the springs, then to the Hwy 41 bridge. The total was about 8 miles. It was a nearly perfect day on the water. We then had lunch at the Blue Gator and had grouper salads.
Saturday - We traveled to The Villages and met folks from Heartland and Windsor Vermont for an annual reunion. We had lunch and chatted at a country club there. It was especially good to see Barry and Julie and Bruce and Cheryl, but great to see everyone.
Sunday - We picked up our friends Dawn and Jeff and went to Dunnellon UMC for a great contemporary service. The folks there were very friendly and welcoming. After we had lunch, we put in on the Rainbow for some fishing. John caught four small bass.
Monday - Despite looking like rain, we put in again and John caught six bream and red breasted sunfish. Joan is having trouble navigating the current and fishing.
Tuesday - Rain, rain, rain. It finally stopped late morning, so we drove towards town so Joan could get her hair cut, then hiked a nice trail at Blue Run Park.
Wednesday - We drove about 50 miles to Weeki Wachee State Park and met our friends Paul and Janet and a group they kayak with every Wednesday. After putting vehicles at Bayport, we launched on the most beautiful river we have kayaked in Florida. This part of the river has no development and is gin clear. We have done the lower part of the river that has a lot of development. After we paddled 6 1/2 miles and reached Bayport, we had lunch at Bayport Inn and had the all-you-can-eat fried fish, which was excellent.
Thursday - Today was an explore day and we wanted to check out a place to launch the kayaks on the Withlacoochee River at Ike's Lodge (Izaak Walton Lodge). The place they give you is not great, but doable. We also had lunch there, which was excellent and not too expensive, even though they had cloth napkins. We then went down to the end of Hwy 40 at Yankeetown, where John fished a little from the bank. He only managed to catch three small silver perch. They only get to a max of about nine inches, but if we were looking for dinner, would have made a tasty meal. The temperature was quite pleasant, but too windy to enjoy fishing from the kayaks.
Friday - We returned to Yankeetown with every intention to launch the kayaks at the place John fished yesterday. When we got there, sadly, it was way too windy. Instead, we donned our waders and wade-fished for about an hour and a half, when we got too cold and the fish stopped biting. Our catching was limited to the same kind of fish as yesterday, but still fun. Later, we picked up our friends Dawn and Jeff for dinner at Swampy's. This time we chose to eat inside, as it had gotten chilly.
Saturday - Cold and very windy today. We took walks, then went to an open house at the place where Joan got her haircut. We had great shrimp, meatballs, and cake. Later we went over to Dawn and Jeff's for delicious baked spaghetti dinner.
Sunday - We holed up today in the warmth of the motorhome.
Monday - It got down to 27 deg last nite and our water supply hose froze up in the nite. Thankfully, it all thawed out about 10 AM with no damage. We should have disconnected and drained them before retiring. By 11 AM it was warm enough to sit outside in the sun. Later in the afternoon, John was able to split some logs a previous camper had left and make a nice fire. Dawn and Jeff came over and helped us enjoy it. Joan is struggling with pollen allergies and taking Micinex DM and Sudifed to survive.
Tuesday - We hung out today. Too windy to fish.
Wednesday - Cooler and still too windy to fish. We said goodbye to Dawn and Jeff. They are heading up to the panhandle.

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